Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2020 01 13

Home Browse Search

Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes December 16th, 2019 Page 3 of 13 looked like it belonged and there would be parking concerns with a duplex. They asked city leaders if Louisville would be served by demolishing a beautiful, original structure, in order to make way for a duplex in a block of original, single-family home. They felt that the legislation meant to preserve was unintentionally providing incentives to builders to demolish original homes in Old Town. Preservation incentives will allow the building owner to expand the footprint, which means a bigger profit margin. They believed that these incentives would change Old Town over time. Tom Rafferty, 945 Rex Street, thought it was sad that staff thought this was a false sense of history. He stated that the sense of history in Louisville was the streetscape that had a significant impact on the historic character of the neighborhood. He was in favor of a home owner that played by the rules. He asked if the Commission had the legal right to tell the builders that they could not demolish the structure. He did not think there was anything wrong with two-story buildings, but he thought this property had significant meaning to the neighborhood and he thought that Old Town Louisville was almost gone. He asked the builder to not pretend to get the grading wrong and then cheat by raising the grade by adding retaining walls to get back into building height. He also asked the builder to help create a street facade that was not cookie -cutter and that fit with the neighborhood. Finally, he asked the builder to include some open space to reduce the feeling of property -Tine -to -property -line buildings. Joyce Brandenburg, 617 La Farge, shared the concerns of herself and her husband. Their home was built at the turn of the 20th century and it was being overcome by structures that should not be in Louisville. She read from the City's Strategic Plan: 1. Vision: The City of Louisville dedicated to providing a vibrant healthy community with the best small-town atmosphere. 2. Mission: Our commitment is to protect, preserve, and enhance the quality of life in our community. 3. Values: Innovation, greeting and embracing change and transformation through creative thinking, learning, and continuous improvement. 4. Collaboration: Proactivity, engaging colleagues and other stakeholders in developing solutions through open communications 5. Accountability: Fulfilling our responsibilities, owning our actions, and learning from our mistakes 6. Respect: treating people, processes, roles, and property with care and concern 7. Excellence: doing our best work and exceeding expectations with responsive, efficient, and effective customer service. Brandenburg summarized that the structure belonged where it was, highlighting words like small-town and preserving in the Strategic Plan. Lauren Gifford, 517 La Farge, stated that she was two houses down from this one. She asked how the Planning and Historic Preservation Commissions overlapped. She described the street as a magical street and she encouraged the Commission to think about historic preservation not just as aesthetic but as community. 4